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Royal Enfield with a 1000 cc V-twin engine

An industrial design professor is working on a home-grown answer to the world’s best monster bikes — a 1000 cc version of the Royal Enfield

Aniket Vardhan was once overtaken by a man on a Harley Davidson. Soon, he is going to answer that snub by riding out on his self-customised Royal Enfield with a 1000 cc V-twin engine. Flashback to the royal snub: On a hot summer day in 1999, Vardhan was riding his 350cc Bullet on the streets of Delhi.
A 1200 cc Harley zoomed by. The most powerful Indian motorcycle felt like a weak horse in comparison. “I wet myself publicly,” says the professor of industrial design at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. “It sounded like a thunder storm about to rock the world. I thought if I could build a V-twin Enfield, I would feel much better.” So he bought two 500cc Enfield engines and will be combining them to mod his ride. It will have a five-speed gear box, approximately 50bhp of power and a top speed of 230-240 kmph.

FIRST DRAFT
It would have been impossible for Vardhan to achieve his dream had he not gone to Ohio in 2002 to pursue a masters in Industrial Design. Still, he was no mechanic and enlisted the help of a friend who owned a machinary shop. Before starting work on the bike in 2010, Vardhan designed and built a 700cc V-twin by combining two 350cc Enfield engines. He named it the Enfield Musket V-twin.
“I began work on the 700cc in 2003 while I was still in college,” Vardhan says. “I sketched and designed 3D computer models, measured all internal parts and figured out how to make the whole thing work using only standard Enfield parts.” The challenge was to redesign the frame of the bike and build a crankcase — a mechanical box which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation — from scratch to hold two engines instead of one.
Being an industrial designer, it was very important for Vardhan to maintain vintage Enfield aesthetics. “I took clues from the last Enfield big twin — the Interceptor — such as the rounded profile of the front of the crankcase,” he says. “I kept it as simple as the original Bullet engine; therefore, there were no modern updates to major engine internals.”
Finally, after five years, the Musket V-twin got on the road at a top speed of 160 kmph with a 37.5 bhp engine.

THE FUTURE
After completing the Musket design, Vardhan contacted Enfield India via e-mail anticipating appreciation. “But they did not reply,” says Vardhan. With a test-run on the Musket, it took him only a year-and-a-half to design the 1000cc V-twin. “It follows a similar process,” says Vardhan, “And is near completion; it’ll take about five more months.”
While he built the Musket solely for himself, he plans to sell the 1000cc bike via his website. However, there is one glitch: he can't use the Enfield brand name for his creation. “I am contemplating striking a deal with an established customised bike maker, such as the Vardenchi Motorcycles of Mumbai or the Rajputana Customs of Jaipur,” says Vardhan.
When people spot his Musket V-twin growling down the road, they can’t help but ask, “It looks factory made. Has Enfield come up with a new bike?” Vardhan simply replies, “No, none of that. It’s my creation.”
For now, this is enough.

THE ROYAL ENFIELD
IN 1955, Royal Enfield started production in India for the Army. Its only 1140cc model was the KX produced in England in 1937; though the English wing of the company did produce the 750cc Interceptor in the 1960s, it was not sold in India. The company saw its demise in England the 1970s, leaving behind its Indian wing. With a booming economy and expanding express highways, American superbikes, which cost between Rs 5 to 20 lakh, made their foray into the Indian market. The Enfield Classic 500cc comes for approximately Rs 1.5 lakh.

Sir, you are correct he first built a 350x2=700 cc bike, its the same in the report also.

Originally Posted by venbab

FIRST DRAFT
It would have been impossible for Vardhan to achieve his dream had he not gone to Ohio in 2002 to pursue a masters in Industrial Design. Still, he was no mechanic and enlisted the help of a friend who owned a machinary shop. Before starting work on the bike in 2010, Vardhan designed and built a 700cc V-twin by combining two 350cc Enfield engines. He named it the Enfield Musket V-twin.
“I began work on the 700cc in 2003 while I was still in college,” Vardhan says. “I sketched and designed 3D computer models, measured all internal parts and figured out how to make the whole thing work using only standard Enfield parts.” The challenge was to redesign the frame of the bike and build a crankcase — a mechanical box which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation — from scratch to hold two engines instead of one.
Being an industrial designer, it was very important for Vardhan to maintain vintage Enfield aesthetics. “I took clues from the last Enfield big twin — the Interceptor — such as the rounded profile of the front of the crankcase,” he says. “I kept it as simple as the original Bullet engine; therefore, there were no modern updates to major engine internals.”
Finally, after five years, the Musket V-twin got on the road at a top speed of 160 kmph with a 37.5 bhp engine.

The above clearly says that he has already built a 350x2=700 cc bike.

Originally Posted by venbab

THE FUTURE
After completing the Musket design, Vardhan contacted Enfield India via e-mail anticipating appreciation. “But they did not reply,” says Vardhan. With a test-run on the Musket, it took him only a year-and-a-half to design the 1000cc V-twin. “It follows a similar process,” says Vardhan, “And is near completion; it’ll take about five more months.”

The above says that he is working on a new bike with 500x2=1000cc engine.

IMO there will not be many takers. RE LB bikes are more like the saying 'Nice to look at but difficult to own'. Only people who have the 'Bullet' thing will 'think' about owning something like this. So yeah, I think RE is justified in not showing interest at this point in time

There is only one cure for grey hair. It was invented by a Frenchman. It is called the Guillotine - PGW

they will see the market response for his bikes first.. and seriously.. how many people do you think will actually get one for themselves??

If I remember correctly in other thread you quoted they are manufacturing the same model with different engine, so why not for a change they introduce these twin engine models. You never know there will be some people who would still buy these bikes since its from RE.

FYI - RE 500 has waiting period of 8 to 12 months and 350 has minimum 6 months waiting period.

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